Coach Kyra Elzy and her team started the season in the top 25 but the Cats are 2-7 in SEC play and struggling to get wins. (Vicky Graff Photo)
What is going on with the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team? Kentucky opened the season ranked in the top 25 again but the Cats dropped to 9-10 overall and only 2-7 in Southeastern Conference play, not exactly the record one might expect for a team that has the nation’s best player, or certainly one of the top three, in senior Rhyne Howard.
“Where do you go from here? We go back to work. There’s nothing else you can do,” Kentucky coach Kyra Elzy said after the loss. “We watch the film as a staff, we evaluate ourselves, the players evaluate themselves. We pick things up and get better where we went wrong today, defensively and offensively.”
A lot has gone wrong. Way too much.
However, it’s hard to pinpoint what factor — or factors — could be the biggest contributor.
— Before last season started, veteran head coach Matthew Mitchell resigned and Elzy was promoted to interim coach and then four games into the season named head coach for the first time her coaching career. It came during the COVID season that has also impacted play and protocols again this year.
— Kentucky relies on four transfers — Dre Edwards (Utah), Robyn Benton (Auburn), Jazmine Massengill (Tennessee) and Olivia Owens (Maryland). While the transfer portal has been gold for John Calipari, it has not been for Elzy. All four players play key roles but the winning just has not been there.
— Injuries have decimated the team. Senior Blair Green tore her Achilles tendon in the preseason and is out for the year. Benton, Massengill, and Treasure Hunt have missed games with injuries.
— Elzy has had to suspend Edwards for five games. No reasons have been given publicly but obviously suspending a team’s top rebounder and second leading scorer is not ideal for any coach. Kentucky had to play games with seven scholarship players and even one with just six players.
Whatever the reason, Kentucky has not always seemed as energized and focused as it needs to be. The Cats had a chance at the end of regulation to get off a potential game-winning shot and squandered the opportunity.
“I thought down the stretch we just didn’t move the ball enough to score. Our timing and spacing was off,” Elzy said.
Careless mental errors have haunted the team.
“I think, at times, we’ve just got to be more aggressive. We had a good game plan. Sometimes, we didn’t follow it. So, we’ve just got to lock in and stay focused at times,” Edwards, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds, said after Sunday’s loss.
Not following the game plan normally doesn’t work and explains how Howard could have not got a shot in the overtime period despite her All-American status. Contrast that with Saturday night when Calipari said this team might be the best he’s ever had at following a game plan — and is a top five team.
“We have to make people pay for how they are guarding Rhyne (with two or more players), which we didn’t take care of today,” Elzy said.
Not following the plan is how a team can go from scoring 26 points in the first half to only getting 29 total in the next THREE quarters.
“I feel like we left defense affect our offense. We were giving up easy points on the other end and when we weren’t scoring. We were too stagnant,” Howard said about UK’s lack of offense after the first quarter.
Elzy almost never criticizes her players publicly. She talked about putting players in better positions against different defenses to help them feel more comfortable — but then again that requires a complete team following a game plan.
Or maybe just more tough love is needed. That’s what Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said it took for his team to get started — and he said he thought Elzy was “doing a great job” with Kentucky.
“This is like after your kids have screwed up at home, and you have got to give some tough love and some discipline. That is what we had to do,” Blair said. “Discipline, tough love has to work sometimes. Win or lose, you got to love after loss, before loss and everything.”
Kentucky has seven games left starting with Tuesday’s game against South Carolina. It has road games at Alabama, Arkansas, and Missouri and home games with Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Auburn.
Can Elzy right the ship this year? Or can she put the program back on a winning track next year after Howard is gone?
It’s just been a disappointing year that has led to some difficult questions with no easy answers.
8 Responses
The exit of a great coach!
YEP
To compete in the SEC, we have to have the best. The best coach to bring in the best players. We do not have either right now. Because Howard can’t be the best with the coach we have and no supporting cast. The Texas a&m game was a terrible coaching job. The program had finally been built up and gained some respect, and it is so disappointing to watch it sink. Barnhart needs to do better for our girls.
Strong points Melissa. Can tell you have been paying attention to women’s basketball
I wasn’t certain that Elzy was the best choice when it was announced last year. I thought Barnhart should have tried to get someone else (as difficult as that would have been, given the timing). Body language on the floor, for the most part, goes from eager to defeated to indifferent by the second quarter. The coaching staff apparently doesn’t have the ability to make in-game changes that can put the players in a position to succeed. The transfers are obviously talented and Howard has two wasted years behind her now. Having talent is one thing but knowing how to utilize it is another. I don’t think the coaching staff knows how.
So much to wonder about Daniel. Bottom line, something is not working
Mathew Mitchell couldn’t make in game adjustments, he had to wait until halftime. Most often the game for him was out of reach at the start of the second half. The current coach lacks experience and most importantly the lack of recruiting. So many good in-state recruits, where is UK??
UK has signed two seniors and actively recruiting most of the other top younger players in the state from what I know